Objective:
Who better to understand and help advocate for the bleeding disorders community than those who live it every day? Step Up Reach Out (SURO) was created to help foster the next generation of leaders in the bleeding disorders community.
Method:
SURO is an international leadership program designed to help build tomorrow's leaders in the bleeding disorders community. The program was created by the University of Texas Health Science Center, Gulf States Hemophilia and Thrombophilia Center (UTHS) in 2007 with support from Bayer HealthCare.
SURO brings together young people (18-24 years old) from around the world for learning, personal growth and collaboration. This one-year program consists of two sessions of leadership training, activities focused on developing communications skills, and individual and group projects. During the time between the two sessions, participants are asked to identify an area in their communities for which they would like to step up and define an action plan, putting into practice the skills they have acquired. They continue to learn from and support one another through the SURO Alumni Network.
Summary:
To date, the SURO program has trained nearly 100 individuals from more than 20 countries, ranging from the US to Mexico, India and beyond. SURO alumni have come out of the program ready to put their action plans to the test, developing programming to support their local community needs.
Conclusions:
SURO helps participants build self-esteem, develop concrete thinking abilities and make decisions that will help make them become leaders in their own right.